Lang & Lit :Part one: Ways in which language affirms identity

Language and Literature: part 1

Learning outcome: the ways in which language affirms identity
Link to part three/four (free choice): Rabbit-Proof Fence (film and/or book)
Topic: Aboriginal Australian history: The "Stolen Generations".
Setting: Australia
Time: late nineteenth century.
Political Background The "Aboriginal Protection Act" of 1897 allowed the authorities "to cause every Aboriginal within any district [...] to be removed to, and kept within the limits of, any reserve". In addition, article 31 allowed them to provide "for the care, custody, and education of the children of Aboriginals" and prescribed "the conditions on which any Aboriginal or half-caste children may be apprenticed to, or placed in service with, suitable persons".

Report of the National Inquiry into the Separation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children from Their Families.

This report is a tribute to the strength and struggles of many thousands of
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people affected by forcible removal. We acknowledge the hardships they endured and the sacrifices they made. We remember and lament all the children who will never come home.
We dedicate this report with thanks and admiration to those who found the strength to tell their stories to the Inquiry and to the generations of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people separated from their families and communities.

2. Blind Eye: Documentary on the Stolen Generations
a. Watch the documentary on: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uRe2d1j3eU0&feature=player_embedded
b. What is it about?
c. Take notes of in what way the language is used to affirm identity.
d. Share your notes with your classmates and discuss to what extend language affirms identity in this passage.
3. Stolen Generations Stories
Surf to the following website and read the stories of the stolen generations.
http://www.creativespirits.info/aboriginalculture/politics/stolen-generations-stories.html
Nothing is more authentic than stories by those who were taken.
Depending on your class size, make groups of two or three pupils, choose one of the stories underneath, read them, summarize the story and prepare a presentation in which you present the story to your classmates. In your presentation you should try and demonstrate how language and meaning are shaped by culture and context.
These are the stories:
a. Bill Simon's story: "I saw her hammering her fists into the road"
b. Netta's story: For 30 years she thought her mother had died
c. Poem: Love You My Sweet Nanna Molly
d. Joyce Injie's story: A lucky escape
e. "My birthday has always been a mystery"
f. Seeing the mother for the first time
g. Maree Lawrence's story: "My school mates called me 'Blackjack'"
h. Poem: 1899
i. A personal journey of sadness and survival.